Formidable Opponent
by D'Fuentes
Summary: What if an invasion happened in the lair but it was unseen? This was Raphael's nightmare.


I do not own the rights to the characters, but I do own this plot.

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There were nights when sleep came unannounced, silent and fast, and then there nights when it refused to grant him ethereal peace. Tonight was one of those nights and Raphael had become restless after staring at the bland ceiling above for nearly four hours. With a growl he pushed himself up and forward, jumping out of the bed. His callused feet landed on the hard floor; numb to its coldness and he stalked out of his room with the intent of raiding the fridge.

With his face fully immersed in the light of the refrigerator, the unmasked turtle shoved aside a multitude of colorful bottles and containers in search of the last ingredient to perfect his sandwich. When he finally located the item he had in mind, the appearance of a shadowed presence behind made him whip around suddenly.

"Master Splinter?" Raphael stammered; not surprised by Splinter's sudden appearance, but embarrassed to be caught on an early morning gorge. He glanced at the time on the microwave to check to see if it was the sensei's normal waking time. Unfortunately, it was only quarter past four in the morning and a bit too early for the elderly rodent to be awake.

"Did I wake you, Sensei?" He asked cautiously, watching Splinter with a wary eye. "'Am sorry if I did. I couldn't get to sleep so I came down here to get a snack."

Splinter acknowledged the apology by offering a small nod of the head and took one step to the side to give way for the terrapin to pass. "It is all well, _uh_, Raphael," the mutant master said, "I am glad that you are the first I get to..._speak_ to today."

Puzzled by the statement, the turtle slowly lifted the sandwich off the countertop, and turned to face Splinter. "Er, okay. What about?" He asked.

A smile broke across Splinter's face as he straightened his posture, and relaxed his grip on the walking stick. He answered, "About whether or not you could stand against a formidable opponent."

The mutant turtle was taking a bite out of his sandwich when the rat spoke and ended up choking on it. "Wha?" He blurted out, projecting bits of food all over the floor. "Formidable?"

"Yes," Splinter jeered, placing one foot on front the other as though he was making a stance. "Formidable like your sensei."

Raphael felt suddenly uneasy and took a step back. "Uh, Master Splinter, are ya feeling okay?" He asked.

"Why thank you for your concern, turtle, but I have never been better!"

Before the ninja could respond, Master Splinter had already kicked him in the plastron with a force strong enough to send him down, sliding on his shell.

As soon as the wall stopped his slide, Raphael hopped up and was met by Splinter's stick being swung at his head in linear motions that were smoother than Leonardo's sword mastery.

"Master Splinter, what are you doing?" Raphael demanded, narrowly missing the swipes aimed at his head.

The master continued his assault, delivering perfect strikes, forcing the unmasked turtle to make awkward blocks and unbalanced dodges.

"You are very good, Raphael, considering what the rat knows," Splinter snarled, swinging his staff around the turtles knees to take advantage of his weakened stance. He fell hard and the master pressed down on the hot-headed turtle's plastron with one foot to prevent him from moving.

"Sensei?" The turtle croaked in shock, starring up at his master's blank face.

Shutting his eyes and tilting his head, the sentient rodent spoke, "From his mind I could see that you and your brothers have a short way to go again before you are masters yourselves."

"Why the heck are you talking like that?" The turtle growled; his voice deepened by his Brooklyn accent. "Why are ya doing this?"

Splinter smiled at him again, pointing his staff at his neck, "Oh, what I wouldn't give to have one of those beautiful katanas your brother carries around. What about your weapons, Raphael? I am sure those points would do just nicely."

He pressed down some more on the mutant's plastron when Raphael tried to move, and drew a blade from the belt around his waist. "Never mind about your weapons, turtle. I have my own."

The younger ninja's eyes widened in fear when he realised that '_this_' Splinter was being serious. "Sensei, what's gotten into you? Please, don't do this..." he pleaded.

Splinter laughed aloud and positioned the tip of the blade near to Raphael's carotid artery. "I am not your sensei, Reptile," he spat in disgust. "Can't you guess who I am? Here, I'll give you a hint. I am your master's master!" Splinter whispered.

Raphael's eyes narrowed with venom and he bucked under the rodent's foot, "Rat King!"

"Ah ha! You got it right on the first try," the Rat King said through Splinter's mouth.

"No! You are not his master," Raphael returned in rage. "I will kill you for this. I swear!"

"Is that so?" Fake Splinter asked, smirking.

"Yes!"

"Then why are you the one with the knife to your neck?"

Raphael tried to move again, but under the villain's control, Splinter was ten times stronger than he was in his naturally aged state, and it made the turtle's efforts pointless.

"Let me go," the terrapin growled angrily, upset about being overpowered by the enemy. He felt like his entire home had been invaded, and invaded it was. They had been attacked to the core, which was basically Splinter himself, and Raphael was useless against it.

"No..."

"Say goodnight, turtle. I'm sure there's a place for you somewhere in the afterlife."

With that, the Rat King pushed Splinter's hand forward, driving the blade into Raphael's neck.

Raphael felt the point of the knife slice into his skin as he watched his master's face burn with glee over him. He closed his eyes and allowed darkness to consume him, knowing that this was his end, but not his brothers' or his father's. They will fight to win in the end. He had hope.

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- Yes, I know this is not my usual output, but it's part of the unseen events that occurred in 'Playing Hearts,' only with a very different ending, and it really is 'drabble' worthy.

Happy Halloween.


End file.
